Young in age and fresh in conception, Colorado's Elephant Revival brings creativity and inspiration that was easy to feel at the 2012 Ann Arbor Folk Festival. This neo-acoustic quintet is on the cutting edge of an emerging new genre known as Transcendental Folk. Individually and collectively the band members have performed with Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, Michael Franti, Little Feat, Yonder Mountain String Band, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, and Leftover Salmon. Elephant Revival delves into Scottish/Celtic fiddle tunes, original folk pieces, traditional ballads, psychedelic country, indie rock, powerful reggae grooves, '40s/'50s jazz standards, and an occasional hip-hop beat, but in whatever they do they keep a sense of encountering musical materials for the first time and finding their spiritual power. In the words of Bill Nershi of String Cheese Incident, “Elephant Revival is a magical blend of melodies and rhythms with their roots in the past and their hearts in the future."
Tonight's special guest is Birds of Chicago, the great folk-soul duo of J.T. Nero (of the Clouds) and Allison Russell (of Po' Girl).
